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  • Finding Freedom

  • Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
  • By: Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand
  • Narrated by: Omid Scobie
  • Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
  • 3.3 out of 5 stars (728 ratings)

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Finding Freedom

By: Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand
Narrated by: Omid Scobie
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Summary

INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF THE TOP 10 BEST-SELLING ROYAL BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME

When news of the budding romance between a beloved English prince and an American actress broke, it captured the world’s attention and sparked an international media frenzy.

But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines – from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their unprecedented decision to step back from their royal lives – few know the true story of Harry and Meghan.

For the very first time, FINDING FREEDOM goes beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together, dispelling the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond. As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British Royal Family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple’s lives as few outsiders can.

With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, FINDING FREEDOM is an honest, up-close, and disarming portrait of a confident, influential, and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world.

©2020 Omid Scobie (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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Critic reviews

‘Utterly gripping’ Daily Telegraph

‘Essential reading’ The Mail on Sunday

‘Well-written, impeccably sourced and a fascinating deep dive into one of the most exciting chapters in royal history’ Vanity Fair

‘Lifts the lid on the complex relationships in Britain’s most famous family’ Telegraph

‘Lays bare the devastating family rifts that led to [Harry and Meghan] quitting the UK’ The Sun

‘An important contribution to the understanding of the biggest crisis in the royal family for more than 20 years’ The Times

‘Revelatory’ Daily Express

‘Fascinating’ OK!

‘Explosive’ Bella

‘Brilliant read’ HELLO!

‘A must-read’ Independent

‘An important historical narrative’ Metro

What listeners say about Finding Freedom

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Unimpressed

I found the authors narration style difficult to listen to. Nothing personal against Mr Scobie, I just don't like his narration style. That unfortunately made it impossible to carry on listening. I'm a supporter of the Sussex's and wanted to listen to the book, but ended up having to read it instead of listening. I had hoped that his new book would be narrated by someone else, but apparently not. I want the 'facts'....if indeed they are... but not impressed with the overall style.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I really wanted this to be good...but it wasn't. It didn't feel objective and the only person who came off looking unnaturally good was the Duchess of Sussex. She seemed more saintly than human and the whole narrative felt fake and unrelatable. Maybe it was written for the American market?

Also, did the authors/Sussex's get paid for brand placement? Every five minutes the book was naming a clothing designer, restaurant or hotel group. More power to then, as I haven't seen that done in publishing yet, but it was rather tedious and I am not sure how it advanced the story.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing and counterproductive to their intention

I’m sure Harry and Meghan are good people, and you can see from what they are passionate about that they have good intentions and pure hearts in terms of their work. However, the book doesn’t do much for their cause and, despite being neutral about her (and a fan of Harry’s and the royal family) and hoping to like Meghan more after reading the book, I came away lamenting their actions and feeling that the royal family were hard done by in the book. Poor Kate in particular, they didn’t need to drag her in to it. She has a huge load being a mum of three, a working wife who has to be loyal to her husband and has also had to deal with two decades of the tremendous pressure to be perfect 24/7 that Meghan merely got a taste of over a couple of years. It was unfair for Meghan to expect anything more of Kate, and she didn’t deserve the unkind insinuations in the book.
The book makes it painfully obvious that Meghan was in over her head with the enormous cultural shift and adaptation required to be a member of the royal family. I feel a bit sorry for her as it was simply too big a transition to ask of an outspoken, confident and strong willed American woman. However, she made a lot of mistakes, had too many expectations and it was never going to work, as the book makes painfully obvious. The lack of understanding of the clunky and old fashioned British ways of doing things, which are steeped in tradition and cannot be changed by a strong willed American newcomer just because she doesn’t like them. Reading the book is like watching a car crash in slow motion as you can see where they think they are going and why, but you know they’re actually just going to crash in to a tree at the end of the road. Clearly the press were hard on her, but there are two sides to that story also. Poor Harry has had a lifetime of it, and must have been overwhelmed to watch his wife suffer, but the book makes it obvious he was between a rock and a hard place, and had to choose his wife over his family. I really wish them both well, they deserve to be happy, but the book was a mistake and there would have been more sympathy for them if they had been stoic and silent, like the rest of the royal family.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

very boring

waste of money , info but just makes her look up her own backside, an shows how he Has sold out .
very sad

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not really worth the hours!

I was hoping there would be *some* details we didn't already know in this book but nada. It's all very surface. You don't come away with any deeper understanding of the decision.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Awful book. writing style is very basic and simplistic.

Poorly written
Incredibly Irritating with designer brand and name dropping on every other page. Terrible writing style and the narration was awful.
Over descriptive with the mundane and really does highlight how out of touch the royals are with everyday life.
I have nothing against Meghan or Harry and was open minded when I approached this book. I can only say don’t bother it’s worst than bad.
Unbelievable that this ever went to print.
This has done Meghan and Harry no favours at all.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

finding freedom - we did when they left the UK

this book was clearly co-writen by the Sussexes. it was full of information that could only be known by them.
it was full of name dropping and Meghans fashion expenses.
i did listen to the whole book, with a struggle.
I did think that while she was making efforts to emulate Diana, I was looking at Diana in an unfavourable light, which I didn't want to do, having always thought that she had done many positive things for the UK, unlike the despotic duo.
Really not worth the read, it is a good few hours you will never get back!!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing!

After much-awaited with anticipation, this book was not what I had hoped for and I found it very weak. Waste of a credit!

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

One sided

Book lacks balance so it would be good to hear the other side to the story.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Underwhelming

So after all the hype I listened to this book - so it seemed to me to be a book of poor Megan and Poor Harry, this poor hard done by pair who want the limelight when it suits them but the option of pleasing themselves at everyone else’s expense.
I don’t think the authors have done the pair any favours -!in trying to make them more likeable they have made them sound more entitled and snooty. The few mentions of the Cambridge’s were all very snide and bitter - not a pleasant read and actually anything of any interest has already been discussed widely in the media. Overall not really worth the time or money spent.

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1 person found this helpful